"On my honor, I will never betray my badge, my integrity, my character or the public trust..." An oath, taken by thousands of men and women, that put their lives on the line to ensure the safety of ours. Some may say this oath is broken, some just don't know anything.
Well, enough is enough. That "pig", that "racist", that "violent man" is somebody's husband, son, uncle, or father. As a matter of fact, he is my father. And it's time your ignorant accusations and generalizations come to their end.
How many times have you felt scared or threatened, and thought of calling the police? What about a simple car accident, in which the cops came to the scene to mediate? Maybe that drunk driver they pulled over, the one that could have killed you or someone you love? Are we perfectly clean of never making a mistake or reacting too quickly to a situation? Are we forgetting all the good that cops do? Are we forgetting that they too, are human beings?
Human beings. That's all any of us really are. And yet society has chosen to separate between gender, race, and uniforms. Are we failing to understand that some of your own people wear this exact uniform that you rally against? Are we failing to realize they wear this uniform for no other reason than to act in the quickest, most intelligent way possible to ensure public safety? Are we failing to remember that in order for the cops to show up in the first place, you or somebody around you had to have been doing something wrong?
Sure there have been shootings and viral videos that give society a reason to uproar. But what happens 30 seconds before you decided to record? Why were the cops called to your scene to begin with? See, the problem with social media is that we only allow people to see what we want them to see. We can shape any person we want into looking like a bad guy, much like we can shape ourselves to appear without flaws. The truth is- none of us are perfect. And instead of pointing fingers, or taking out our phones and pressing play, let's focus on the stuff that really matters.
If we all need to take a moment to remember the Boston Marathon, the Orlando shooting, the Fort Lauderdale airport shooting- let's come together and notice the differences and similarities in every photo from these horrible acts. Nine times out of ten, there is a law enforcement officer, of whatever race or gender they may be, protecting a mixture of children, adults, whites, blacks, hispanics, gays, etc.
Protecting them. Standing up in the face of danger, when everybody else is fleeing.
Some of these men and women are lucky enough to return home to their friends and families after work, some are not. Their job is to put themselves in danger, just to keep us safe. And if your stupidity is what gets you jailed or killed, then so be it. But instead of bashing these people because of the uniform that they wear, consider one thing- at some point that uniform comes off. At some point, they go home to be a parent in a baseball hat, eating oreos on the couch with his dopey dog, living a regular life like the rest of us. At some point, they deserve respect.
